'Halloween High School 2' marks scary start to Children's Company season

children'S COMPANY STARTS SEASON AT DOWNTOWN CABARET

By Amanda Cuda, Staff Writer

Published
6:52 pm EDT, Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Trying to find a fun weekend activity that the whole family can enjoy can be downright scary.

Well, fear not. The Children's Company of the Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport is back for its 28th season of lively, family-friendly entertainment. As always, the theater's offerings mix well-loved, well-known stories with modern culture.

To wit, the first show of the season is "Halloween High School 2," a sequel to last season's popular "Halloween High School." The show, which runs from Saturday until Nov. 1, once again follows a crop of beloved movie monsters into the scariest place on earth: high school.

Following that show, the Cabaret will present a slew of equally skewed shows, including the medieval-themed "The Knight Before Christmas" and a take on the beloved Grimms fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel" that features the music of Twisted Sister, Culture Club and other 1980s icons.

Children's Company artistic director Bert Bernardi said he always tries to create plays that mix the fresh with the familiar.

"Every time that we approach a story, we try to put a different spin on it," he said.

That "spin" can be modern music or a fashion trend or something in pop culture. For instance, the "Halloween High School" shows mix creature features with the cultural iconography of teen songfests like "Grease" and the "High School Musical" series. The new play features a love triangle centering on a character named Frankie Frankenstein. He has a girlfriend named Virginia Wolf and other characters include Dracula Jr. and Dr. Strangeblood.

Bernardi said he takes his inspiration for the children's shows from everything from the sitcom "I Love Lucy" to the films of the Marx Brothers. Though his influences are far-flung, his goal is always the same -- to provide fun and entertainment for kids and their parents.

It's so important to expose children to theater at a young age, Bernardi said, because it engages them in a way that movies and television don't. With a play, he said, the audience is part of the experience.

"It opens up a whole new world of imagination," he said. "We're building audiences for the future."